“The mercy of the front line depends on military doctors”: Colonel Vladimir Shichanin on the work of medical special forces

— Vladimir Vasilyevich, so many years have already passed since the first Chechen one, what do you remember about the work of the first MOSN in Grozny?

- My son was shell-shocked there then, so this is not forgotten.

Kostya was a medical assistant-laboratory assistant at the MOSN, he carried the wounded.

Explosion - and he himself is in a hospital bed.

But before that, nevertheless, the fighter was taken out from under fire, for which he was subsequently awarded the Order of Courage.

There, all our military doctors who worked in the city where active hostilities were taking place were heroes, and therefore I signed award documents for everyone who worked in Grozny: both our employees and doctors involved from the medical system of the air defense forces.

- When did you receive the task to form a special forces detachment on the basis of the 114th Central Military Command?

- Shortly before the start of hostilities, about a month before.

The main load, to be honest, was carried on my shoulders by the then head of the medical service of the air defense forces, Major General of the Medical Service Viktor Vladimirovich Lyutov, who, unfortunately, left us forever in 2012.

Prior to joining our troops, he served as the head of the medical service of the Western Group of Forces, and there, in Germany, face to face with a potential enemy, the issues of priority medical measures to save the wounded were worked out seriously.

At the assembly site in Solnechnogorsk, Lyutov and I spent the day and night.

We have fully carried out, as they say in the military language, the combat coordination of the military team, the additional staffing of personnel with specialists of various profiles.

In total, MOSN consisted of about 90 people.

Also, under our control, technical specialists checked the performance of all equipment.

I have always been convinced that in any business the key to success is in the organization.

So the mercy of the front line primarily depended on the competent organization of the work of military doctors.

In Grozny, it was really necessary to receive the wounded and provide them with the necessary first qualified assistance from the first day of work - from January 9, 1995.

Other medical personnel were unloading equipment and medicines to the whistle of bullets, and surgeons were already operating on the wounded.

The situation demanded: the bloodiest battles were in the city center.

- Where is MOSN located?

— Near Grozny Severny airport.

Believe it or not: in the building where the casino used to be.

You look out the window, along the runway - the planes of Dudaev aviation burned after the strikes of our bombers.

However, although the casino suffered, it was not much: it was better to work in it than in tents.

Although, if necessary, tents would be deployed.

• Colonel Vladimir Shichanin

- Did you yourself fly to Chechnya then?

- Yes.

Repeatedly.

But there was no need to supervise the process: the MOSN had a strong and intelligent commander, lieutenant colonel of the medical service Leonid Raff.

The work was set clearly by him, from the initial sorting of the wounded to their evacuation to hospitals in Mozdok and Vladikavkaz.

I helped in resolving urgent issues.

There was always something missing - antibiotics ran out, then hemostatic drugs, plus medical equipment sometimes failed.

They tried to solve problems with lightning speed, everything vital was delivered by the very first passing helicopter.

- What injuries did the patients most often come with?

- If mine-explosive injuries prevailed in the war in Afghanistan, then in Chechnya, for the most part, our military doctors had to deal with gunshot wounds.

Bullet and shrapnel wounds in the limbs, in the head.

If the bulletproof vest did not save, then the surgeons had to deal with penetrating wounds in the stomach.

There were severe cases when the intestines were pierced in many places.

It was useless to send such a wounded man to the rear: he would not fly, he would die.

Our doctors operated on the spot.

The chances of success were minimal, but our traumatologist Viktor Kolesnikov, surgeon Vyacheslav Moskalenko, and many other specialists really pulled the guys out of the other world.

And sometimes miracles were performed by non-specialists.

I remember that a completely hopeless wounded man, who was brought to the MOSN with his head pierced by shrapnel, was saved by neurologist Andrei Ostafiychuk,

who undertook to do a trepanation of the skull practically in the field.

Did the job brilliantly.

The soldier survived.

— Have local residents applied to the MOSN for medical help?

“Our doctors gave birth six times!

MOSN at the Severny airport was the only hospital in all of Grozny and its district.

There were dozens of people, old people even from mountain villages, under shelling, were brought.

Qualified medical care was provided in full to all those who applied.

Our military doctors performed urgent operations and nursed them, and gave them medicines with them.

And sometimes, during a surgical intervention, doctors in uniform gave their blood by direct transfusion, without making out whether it was Russians or Chechens.

So we have a blood brotherhood.

- Did you have to treat the militants?

Also on russian.rt.com The “long arm” of army aviation: Lieutenant General Anatoly Surtsukov on the actions of helicopter pilots during a special operation

- I remember that during my business trips to Grozny, employees of the Russian special services brought such wounded several times.

Doctors patched them up, they came to their senses under guard for several days, then such patients were evacuated somewhere under escort.

— How do you assess the work of Russian military doctors during the special operation in Ukraine?

- My firm conviction: since the time of our great surgeon Nikolai Pirogov, Russian military field medicine has been among the best in the world.

A unique result was in the Great Patriotic War.

Military doctors returned to service 72% of the wounded and 96% of the sick.

Not only did they save lives, but they put the servicemen back into service.

Of course, I’m watching from the outside, but it’s clear that the system is working smoothly.

The chain of transfer of the wounded from the medical instructor, who applied the tourniquet on the battlefield, to the MOSN in the frontline zone (and from there to the rear hospitals) operates in the same way as in 1995 in Grozny.

Perhaps the military medical service of the Russian Armed Forces has also taken into account our experience.

Recently, information was announced from the TV screen from the Ministry of Defense that the military work of the head of the special-purpose medical detachment was marked with a state award.

Correct solution.

Success in saving soldiers' lives is achieved not only by the skill of doctors in operating rooms, but also by skillful administration.